10 people born on this day (April 1st):

Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (1873) – Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music

Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck (1815) – German-Prussian statesman of the late 19th century, and a dominant figure in world affairs. As Ministerpräsident, or Prime Minister, of Prussia from 1862–1890, he oversaw the unification of Germany. In 1867 he became Chancellor of the North German Confederation. He designed the German Empire in 1871, becoming its first Chancellor and dominating its affairs until he was removed by Wilhelm II in 1890. His diplomacy of Realpolitik and powerful rule gained him the nickname the “Iron Chancellor”. As Henry Kissinger has noted, “The man of ‘blood and iron’ wrote prose of extraordinary directness and lucidity, comparable in distinctiveness to Churchill’s use of the English language

Toshirō Mifune (1920) – Japanese actor who appeared in almost 170 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration with filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, from 1948 to 1965, in works such as Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and Yojimbo. He is also popular for portraying Musashi Miyamoto in Hiroshi Inagaki’s Samurai Trilogy

Miodrag Petrović Ckalja (1924) – Serbian actor who was one the most popular comedians of former Yugoslavia

Anne Inez McCaffrey (1926) – Author of science fiction and fantasy novels, best known for her Dragonriders of Pern series. Born in the United States, she is a long-term resident of Ireland

Susan Magdalane Boyle (1961) – Scottish singer who came to international public attention when she appeared as a contestant on reality TV programme Britain’s Got Talent on 11 April 2009, singing “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Misérables. Her first album was released in November 2009 and debuted as the number one best-selling CD on charts around the globe

Lon Chaney (1883) – Nicknamed “The Man of a Thousand Faces,” was an American actor during the age of silent films. He was one of the most versatile and powerful actors of early cinema. He is best remembered for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with film makeup

Abraham Harold Maslow (1908) – American professor of psychology at Brandeis University who founded humanistic psychology and created Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

William Harvey (1578) – English physician who was the first person to describe completely and in detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the body by the heart. After his death “The William Harvey Hospital” was constructed in the town of Ashford, several miles from his birthplace of Folkestone